


Second Chances

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic 2019 [52]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, First Meetings, Flashbacks, M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-07 02:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20302255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for 100 Words on Music prompt:Hawaii Five-0, Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams,I knew from the first timeI'd stay for a long time 'causeI like me better whenI like me better when I'm with you(Lauv)In which Danny regales his newest protégé with the story of how he met Steve.





	Second Chances

Danny stood at the water pump, hands cupped to catch the blessedly cool water that poured out as Gabe worked the handle. He immediately splashed the water in his face. Putting up a barn was hot work, especially on a hot day. 

Steve had stripped off both his shirt and undershirt, which Danny felt was unnecessary. A gaggle of teenage girls was following him around, offering him water, food, and probably their hands in marriage.

Grace and some of the other younger children were playing with a basket full of kittens the Chisolms had brought to find homes for. Danny suspected they’d be leaving with one when the day was over.

“Okay, you’re next,” Danny said.

He pumped some water for Gabe. The kid was fitting in well so far. Danny and Steve had run across Gabe while investigating a murder; he’d been hanging with a rough crowd of miscreants, sticking out like a sore thumb with his respectful manners and gentle nature. Gabe had wisely decided to seek gainful employment with the Sheriff. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir, how did you go from being an outlaw to working with the Sheriff?”

“You don’t want to hear that old story,” Danny said. He led the way to the big table that had been set up outside. He knew for a fact Ms. Haney had made pies for the day and he wanted to make sure he got a piece.

“That’s okay,” Gabe said, trailing behind.

Danny, hearing the disappointment in his voice, stopped and turned around. “You really want me to tell it?”

Gabe nodded enthusiastically. 

“Let’s get some pie and find a shady spot, and I’ll tell you the whole sordid tale.”

*o*o*o*

Danny didn’t remember riding into town on the unnamed horse. He’d been too long without food or water, had been feverish and out of his head. It was a wonder he’d managed to keep himself in the saddle.

What he did remember was waking up in a jail cell, weak as a newborn baby.

“Howdy.”

The man leaning in the open cell door was lean and well-dressed, a fancy two-gun rig strapped around his waist. The star pinned to his vest gleamed in the sun streaming through the barred window.

“Where am I?” Danny asked, his voice creaky and dry.

The Sheriff stepped into the cell and filled a tin cup with water from a bucket next to the bed. “Nice and easy there. You’ve had a rough go.”

“Am I under arrest?”

“Any reason you should be?”

Danny certainly wasn’t going to mention the price on his head, not to the law. A jail cell was preferable to a hangman’s noose.

“Nope.”

“You’re in Longfellow. Name’s Steve McGarrett.” He tipped his hat at Danny.

Danny replied with his first name. No need to give the Sheriff more than that to work with. Hopefully there wasn’t a poster with the Jersey Kid’s likeness and the offer of a reward for his capture hung up anywhere in town.

“You rode in a couple three days ago, and I was almost sure you were dead. Doc looked you over and said otherwise. I put you up here so I could keep an eye on you.”

Danny pushed himself up so he was sitting on the bunk, the effort leaving him a little breathless.

“Much appreciated.”

“You get robbed?”

Danny figured that was a fair assumption, since the only thing he had was a horse with no name and the clothes on his back. Speaking of which, where _were_ his clothes? He’d been stripped down to his skivvies and covered with a blanket.

“Good guess. They took everything I had, except my name.”

“And your horse.”

Danny shook his head. “He’s not mine. I might be his by this point, though. He found me out in the desert. I owe him my life.”

“He’s been put up at the town stables. They’re taking good care of him.”

That shouldn’t have made Danny as pleased as it did. He barely knew that horse, really. But he’d done right by Danny, and so Danny would return the favor. 

“You hungry? Ms. Haney dropped off some soup. I can heat it up if you like.”

“That would be great, thanks.”

Danny and Steve shared the soup, and the silence between them was surprisingly comfortable. As if they were old friends instead of new acquaintances. Steve returned Danny’s clothes, which had been laundered, and gave him some measure of privacy in which to get dressed.

“You seem like a decent fellow,” Steve said, back leaning in the doorway of the cell while Danny buttoned his shirt.

“Likewise.”

“So I’m going to give you a chance to tell me about this before I make any judgements on you.”

Steve held up the damned wanted poster.

“It’s not a great likeness,” Danny said. He stayed on his feet instead of sitting back down. He didn’t want Steve having even that small amount of advantage over him. If need be, Danny knew he could make a break for the door and take Steve down in the process. But he’d rather avoid that if possible.

“No, it’s not. But it’s close enough.” Steve rolled the poster up and jammed it in his back pocket. “Tell me why I shouldn’t lock you in and call the Pinkertons.”

“You do what you feel you need to, but I can tell you that Jersey Kid thing is a pile of horse shit.”

“So you’re not a sharpshooter, and the fastest draw east of the Mississippi?”

“Okay, it’s not _all_ horse shit. But the man I killed in Jersey was threatening my family. I was trying to protect them, he came in with his friends, all of whom were packing, and bullets were exchanged.” Danny shrugged like it didn’t matter, but he still burned at the unfairness of it all. His brother and sisters had been relying on him and he’d let them down. “A price was put on my head and I had to leave. It was the only way to keep my family safe.”

“Wife and kids?”

“Brother and sisters. Our parents died when Matthew was just a baby.”

The guy he’d killed had been an Italian immigrant, the same as Danny’s parents. They should’ve been sticking together, helping each other out, but Frankie Grippo had taken advantage instead, making a name and a better life for himself off the backs of his neighbors.

Steve nodded. “And the others?”

Danny dug into the dirt floor of the cell with his boot heel. “The others saw ‘fastest draw’ on the poster and wanted to see if it was true. Reward pays out dead or alive, and I’m a lot easier to deal with dead.”

That was the worst thing of all. The lives he’d had to needlessly take just because some hotshot young guy thought he could make a name for himself. Danny had been running from it, running from everything, for a long time. And he was tired. Maybe it would be better to get locked up and have it all done with.

“I could use some help around here,” Steve said. “Longfellow is a good town, full of good people, but there’s no way to keep the bad element out entirely. If you’re really as fast as they say, I could use you. Been having trouble finding a deputy.”

Danny tried not to gape in surprise. “You do realize I’m a wanted outlaw, right? That didn’t slip by you somehow when I mentioned the price on my head?”

Steve just grinned. “I think we’ll get along just fine.”

*o*o*o*

“Wow,” Gabe said. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Danny confirmed. “Steve took a chance on me, made me want to do better. Be better. So far that’s worked out pretty well.”

Steve hadn’t just given him a job and a purpose. He’d given Danny back a home, something he hadn’t had since he left New Jersey. It meant more to him than he’d ever be able to express, despite the fact that Steve always said he talked too much. Some things were too important to express out loud; he kept them close to his heart instead.

“Like you took a chance on me,” Gabe said. His lips were stained from the blackberry pie he’d eaten.

“One good turn deserves another,” Danny replied.

Steve chose that moment to join them, and Danny was pleased to see he’d put his shirt back on. And that he’d lost his harem of eager young women.

“What are you two talking about?” Steve asked, dropping down next to Danny and stealing his last bite of pie.

“Second chances,” Danny replied.

“Everyone deserves a shot at one,” Steve agreed.

“Yes, even blatant pie thieves who I know for a fact already had a whole apple pie to themselves.”

“Hungry work, raising a barn.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “You’re a ridiculous human being.”

“All part of my charm. Right, Gabe?”

“Right,” Gabe grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> **AN:** And here’s Steve, making snap judgments about people again. ::grins:: Luckily for Danny, he’s an excellent judge of character. Have I mentioned how much fun I’m having in this ‘verse?


End file.
